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Five apps for would be writers

If there is the modern equivalent, and naturally I think there is, it's probably nothing to do with music. It could be app lists. I fell into conversation with another rugby dad at the under-9s on Saturday morning (because, believe me, the game wasn't worth watching) and found him to be the owner of a new shiny precious, my master Steve Jobs' iPad 2. Instantly, we fell to talking apps. The best, coolest, the most obscure, the most interesting, the weirdest, funniest and, tellingly I thought, the way in which we have them organised on our respective pads.

The thing about that conversation was it didn't have to be about iPads. It could've been about a Playbook (snigger, okay, no it couldn't) or a Nexus S or any smart chunk of handheld silicon. We pondered here recently the topic of whether small applications might replace big arse super programs like Word. But talking with Glenn on the weekend – and enthusiastically agreeing to catch up for a drink to finish our conversation away from the eye-rolling of the ladies - it struck me that the previous app discussion might have missed the point. After just a couple of minutes of talking about Glenn's apps and even how he had them set up on the pad I got more of an insight into his personality than I had over a couple of years of standing on the sideline at Saturday morning kids' rugby.

The home screen of both my tablet and phone is organised in a very particular way, with only single apps visible (with one exception) and most of them related to media consumption, specifically news media and media production, either blogs or novels. The exception to the single app rule is a folder with fitness applications tucked away inside. As though having it on the first screen was a statement of intent about sticking to my exercise program and diet regime. Every time I fire up the phone, it's there, smiling benevolently if I've been good, judging me coldly if not.

Why single apps? Because I suspect we tend to use the same small cohort of applications over and over, and that 90 per cent of the stuff we download is just for faffing around. Better then to gather the faff together in folders and hide it away where it's not going to distract us. Especially if we are pretending the phone or tablet is a productivity tool.

So how does the modern mix tape come into it? Because even though we do tend to have these favourites I also suspect most of us are like squirrels and there's just no such thing as having too many acorns. This is why a whole subgenre of technical publishing – the app guide – has rapidly evolved to serve our acorn-gathering obsession. Partly, of course, because they're just so many of these things now it is impossible to sift through them on our own, but partly because even faced with the impossibility of sorting the gold nuggets from the dog turds, once you have an app addiction you can't help yourself anyway.

This is why I love the idea of something like a mix tape for apps. At the moment we just tend to pass our phones and our tablets around and say "look at this cool thing I found". But what would be really cool would be the ability to hand wave a bunch of apps from our device to a friend's, even if it was just a temporary transfer. Something that allowed them to open the application once or twice and have a play with it before it deleted itself. Just like playlists on iTunes or an old mix tape from the Jurassic days of music, app lists could have the potential to grow the audience for a developer.

In that spirit I'm going to offer up my mix tape of five apps for would-be writers. These are all on the home screen of my iPad.

Zite - a personalized magazine A little rougher around the edges than Flipboard, but more powerful in many ways because it doesn't just ape your Twitter and Facebook feeds - it analyses how you interact with them and with other sources such as Google reader to fashion a much more tightly focused, and continually updated, on-screen magazine for you. I became addicted after one use.

Ruminate - a story mapping applicationIt lets me draw out the story arcs in a narrative, the through lines for a particular character, for instance, so that I can see a book or story or a magazine article laid out like a flowchart. A brilliant device for plotting out a novel.

Notes PlusUsed with a stylus, it turns your tablet into an old-fashioned notebook with some Stargate tech features that would've impressed Rodney McKay. Brilliant for sketching as well as writing, one of its best features is the ability to zoom in on the notepad to let you write your note in a generous flowing hand that then shrinks down into a much neater example of cursive script than is usually the case when using a stylus on-screen.

Dragon DictationYou'll need a 3G or a wireless connection to use this, because the speech recognition is done back at the Nuance DeathStar, but for anybody who's spent a bit of time training themselves to use dictation software, this app is a must-have. Perfect for taking notes, or dictating short form emails, letters, etc.

DropboxProbably needs no introduction nowadays. A great way to store your data – in my case stories and novel chapters – in the cloud. With shared folders that your editors and/or researchers can also access. Peace of mind for anybody who's ever lost an important file.

You'll notice I haven't recommended a writing program, which might seem odd, but I'm still looking for one. Pages is a bit "meh". Feel free to suggest an alternative, along with your own mix tape of favourite apps.

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21 comments so far

Appbrain is an app directory for Android devices, which users can create their own lists to share.

Also, the modern day mix tape exists and is thriving over at 8tracks.com !

P.S. They just released their free iPhone app too and its well worth checking out. Check out my mixes 8tracks.com/WAPTRONICS

Commenter

dangercharlie

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 10:01AM

Ha! Just checked out yr mix. That was cool.

Commenter

JB

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 10:13AM

All these downloadable applications for your phone and fondle slab sort of remind me of the old computer magazines that came with a CD of applications on the cover, or the bulletin boards that had large collections of shareware for their members to download. A great deal of it was crap, but there were also some real gems. It was just a matter of finding the right application that did the job you wanted done.

Commenter

Big Pete

Location

The Bay of Deception

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 10:45AM

Evernote. Perhaps the most useful cross platform note app (sync it on your iPad, have the note turn up automatically on your PC, Phone or whatever)

Commenter

Orin

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 10:46AM

I like Celtx for writing, got good structures for screenplays, novels, scripts etc. Not sure how it would run on an iPad though, i've yet to find a need for the new precious so am thus far abstaining.

I don't use it a huge amount but Evernote can be useful for, um, notes, got voice record as well.

Commenter

Stacey0

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 10:59AM

Yeah, I was looking at evernote over the weekend. Wondering what I might use it for.

Commenter

JB

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 11:13AM

BigPeter, I remember when having to type the code in from the magazine and record it to a cassette tape. It was usually basic sometime machine code, one typo and it was debug heaven.

I love my software delivery devices.

Commenter

savo

Location

Thebrave

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 11:16AM

After the internet goes to $160 a month I hope you have fun.

Commenter

pure health

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 11:44AM

That's less than I pay now.

Commenter

JB

Date and time

May 09, 2011, 12:06PM

iThoughts HD - best mind mapping application on the iPad - really great for rapid idea taking (assuming you know how to mind map)